Why do people lurk?

[Kay]

Yeah, I know it's good manners to hang back for a little while and get a feel for the place before diving in. But there's always someone lurking around, which seems a bit creepy in a way.

I started a new foodie forum, it's not doing too badly for a new forum, but I know every single person who has posted. There's not one stranger on there. Maybe it's because we appear cliquey or something.

But then I come over here and see there are dozens of non-members lurking on here too.

Perhaps I have a jaundiced view of things but it seems to me that lurkers want to suck whatever they can get out of you and give nothing back. A controversial view perhaps. But they just seem like Peeping Toms to me.

[hooperman]

I guess some people don't feel like participating, and that might be for any reason. No time, can't be bothered making the effort, shy, don't want to reveal secrets about themselves, scared etc.

Oh hold on, that's me

[Kay]

Well, yeah, Hoop. But that's part of my point. They'll lurk and suck up what they can take but they can't be bothered to give anything back.

That's nothing like you.

[Magnus]

... but they can't be bothered to give anything back.

Another way of looking at it is that they perhaps don't think they have anything to give back.

I know for sure if I had found this forum a year ago (before i had started my own site(s) or bought others) I would have read almost every thread here and not participated in discussion?

This would be for a couple of reasons:

#1 - I knew very little about the online world and actually felt I could contribute nothing.

and

#2 - I was (and still am) online trying to read + learn as much as I can, I can usually find/figure out stuff for myself and don't need to ask questions - why would I spend time making posts that I don't see any "tangible" benefit from.

I don't currently think like this (evident from other posts I've made [point #1], and this post [point #2]).

I am a member of many, many forums - and I only post in one or two.

Overall I would consider myself a lurker - with one or two exceptions (this forum being one of them).

[Clinton]

hoop and Magnus have identified key contributors.

The lurkers I see on these boards are

1. Those who aren't allowed to keep an account here because they can't maintain the standard of posting. This is not a knowledge based discrimination. It's a block against those who lack the language or social skills to go beyond the "fluff" description I've set out for these boards. Those accounts are blocked from posting.
2. Companies / marketplaces / players in this industry who want to keep their finger on the pulse but don't necessarily want to be part of a "community" - from Flippa to brokers
3. Past posters, now lurkers: Perhaps because they had a tiff with someone on these boards - or whatever reason - there are some high post count members who've turned to lurking.
4. The selfish.

We have some fantastic members here and some very generous contributions, but I must admit it rankles when I see someone signed in everyday who can contribute in a big way and benefit lots of readers but who hasn't posted for weeks/months at a time. If they were really that busy they wouldn't be dropping in several times a week to monitor what's happening.

I'm happy for any suggestions on how to convert lurkers.

[Kay]

It seems as though: "I'm here to learn" or "I have nothing to contribute" is a factor in some cases. Well, there are many people who have a lot to learn and, yes, we don't need to be spoon-fed - we're capable of doing our own research. But it rarely hurts to discuss your ideas with others or even just bounce them off other people to see what comes back.

Also, you can make new contacts and even new friends by joining in. If you lurk all the time I just can't see how you will make any new friends or contacts at all.

And #4, as Clinton said, the selfish. Those who take and never give.

That said, not all lurkers are bad. One of ours sometimes gives us very generous financial donations (way above what's necessary) because he appreciates the info that he can access. He's maybe just a bit shy or feels he doesn't have much to say on a forum.

But, if you are a lurker, then ask yourself what, if anything, you are giving back to the community who so generously helps you? And you don't need to see a tangible benefit from your every post. Maybe it'll spark off some discussion. Maybe it will help someone. It's got more chance of being useful than lurking in the dark peering through the window to see what the rest of us are doing.

[hooperman]

I'm happy for any suggestions on how to convert lurkers.

Tough one this. I happened on a forum the other day that had a weird method for getting more registered members. It allowed you to view only so many threads before it stopped you viewing any more as a lurker. To see more you had to register. To tell the truth I wasn't impressed enough with the content I'd seen to register, so I just stopped going (my loss I guess)! I think that's the danger with policies that allow you to see only X number of pages before forcing you to register: the lurker might not see anything they like in those X pages, and then the forum's lost a potential member by excluding them.

[grynge]

I detest those sites hooper so I usually use googles cache to do my viewing on them. I don't like to be forced into anything so normally I will cut my nose off to spite my face and I would never join. I pretty much stopped going to webmasterworld because of that policy and I always don't want to have to keep being logged in.

I am normally a lurker though I normally don't lurk for long I tend to scrape all the info I want and then go onto other places. I only joined this site to see if I could get some tips on selling a highend site. I liked the crowd and I definitely like the no fluff posts. I can't even say why I keep coming back (and probably some wish I wouldn't come back lol) I don't normally share either but I tend to on here (though I must admit I keep a lot of the juicy stuff to myself). I suppose I must be able to see some advantage of being a regular contributing member or maybe I just like the atmosphere.

[hooperman]

I detest those sites hooper so I usually use googles cache to do my viewing on them. I don't like to be forced into anything so normally I will cut my nose off to spite my face and I would never join.

LOL, same here. To get round the exclusion on the forum I mentioned, all you have to do is delete your cookies, but it's not worth the effort

[Saul]

How do you know how many lurkers you have, if you have any at all?

If you're looking at the forum stats that show current active users, they cannot tell you how many real lurkers there are. The active user stats register the number of visits to the site over the last x minutes (usually an hour or more). But in reality most of them may be active no longer than a minute, and then they leave and never come back. That's especially the case with search engine traffic.

Also there are bots not recognized by the software and random spammers, etc.

I think the best you can do is stop worrying about lurkers, know your target audience, and keep promoting your community to it.

4. The selfish.

I thought posting, on the contrary, is a manifestation of narcissism and selfishness. Signature ad space aside, I don't think there would be many posters if posting was a selfless act.